Second time around: Are teams figuring out Puig?

SAN FRANCISCO - Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts in Saturday’s loss to the Giants and 2 for 4 with two more strikeouts Sunday. It is as close to mortal as the rookie sensation has looked in his first 32 big-league games.

“It really just proves if you don’t swing at strikes, you don’t hit. It doesn’t matter who you are,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said before Sunday’s game. “We talked to him about it (after Saturday’s game).

“More than anything, he didn’t swing at strikes. We talk about it all the time – you are what you eat. You have to swing at strikes.”

It also proves that major-league teams are very good at scouting. In his brief major-league career, Puig has faced just two teams in more than one series – the San Diego Padres and Giants.

In his second series against the Padres, Puig was 4 for 16 (.250) with six strikeouts and just one extra-base hit (a home run). In his second series against the Giants this weekend, he went 3 for 13 (.231) with one extra-base hit (a double) and seven strikeouts.

The Dodgers’ final two opponents before the All-Star break -- the Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies – will also be seeing Puig for the second time since his promotion.

“I don’t worry about that. I just go day to day,” Puig said through his translator of teams getting more familiar with him. “If I strike out four times tomorrow, that’s fine. As long as my team wins, that’s all that matters.”

After winning both the National League Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month awards for his historic June (44 hits and the highest average in the majors during the month, .xxx), the first week of July was easily Puig's least productive week in the big leaguers. He was 8 for 26 (.308) with a .321 on-base percentage -- his lowest figures for any week -- just one home run and three RBI while striking out in nearly half of his at-bats (11).